I'm in a similar situation. We just bought a house with a supposed 3 car garage...its only 20 feet deep by 27 feet wide....and 9 foot ceilings with bedrooms over the garage...There is one 16 foot wide door and one 8 foot door which is barely adequate to park 3 compact cars with nothing else, let alone our Armada and Xterra....We have three cars, a motorcycle, 7 bicycles, three kayaks, a car top cargo box, my workbench, 42 inch wide rollaway tool chest, parts washer, golf clubs, hunting, fishing and camping gear, and a lifetime's worth of accumulation of various tools and other garage type stuff, lawn mower, chainsaw, weedeater, and recycle bins....all to try and shoehorn in there somehow. I'm currently trying to build shelves and plan it out. I've finally resolved that my VW isn't going to have a home in the garage, which is okay since it is my daily driver for commuting when its too cold to ride the motorcycle.

Oh yeah and I just remembered that a portion of the garage space is taken by a utility sink, an extra fridge, and the furnace and water heater, and two really unfortunately placed columns... its going to be a challenge...

I'm with ya...

Originally Posted by GpzGuy

I'm in a similar situation. We just bought a house with a supposed 3 car garage...its only 20 feet deep by 27 feet wide....and 9 foot ceilings with bedrooms over the garage...There is one 16 foot wide door and one 8 foot door which is barely adequate to park 3 compact cars with nothing else, let alone our Armada and Xterra....We have three cars, a motorcycle, 7 bicycles, three kayaks, a car top cargo box, my workbench, 42 inch wide rollaway tool chest, parts washer, golf clubs, hunting, fishing and camping gear, and a lifetime's worth of accumulation of various tools and other garage type stuff, lawn mower, chainsaw, weedeater, and recycle bins....all to try and shoehorn in there somehow. I'm currently trying to build shelves and plan it out. I've finally resolved that my VW isn't going to have a home in the garage, which is okay since it is my daily driver for commuting when its too cold to ride the motorcycle.

Oh yeah and I just remembered that a portion of the garage space is taken by a utility sink, an extra fridge, and the furnace and water heater, and two really unfortunately placed columns... its going to be a challenge...

I'm dying to get access to the place to take more measurements and pics, so I get an idea of what I'm in for.... so I can start planning.

So far, I'm thinking of making a network of Superstrut rails on the ceiling to bolt some allthread rod to, to support whatever and where ever. The issue I'm running into (in my mind) is that I hate to run lag screws into the ceiling, because I think it's just a thin board with shingles on the other side. I can bolt to the support beams on the sides, but the rail might sag in the middle under load.

Most hardware stores carry parts for this stuff. I use it all the time for building outdoor sirens and supporting electrical cabinets. It's an erector set for grown-ups!

He says he's got his bikes hung up on these in his garage, and rolls them back and forth like picking out a dress from the closet. He pushes the bikes closer together to fit more in a smaller space. I'm thinking I can make shelves that roll back out of the way, maybe over the garage door.

I'm also going to need to build a work bench, but that is another project.

What are you all doing for bike hanging and gear storage solutions? Pics are most welcome.

Here is what I did. This is my second total garage build out, I learned a lot from our *tight* 2 car garage in the first house.

Get as much as you can off the floor. I epoxied the floor, spray textured the walls thick splatter/orange peel ($30 texture gun found on Craigslist) and put 2 thick coats of stain blocker Kilz on the walls and ceiling. I can spray the garage out with water which is nice, you can eat off the floor when it is clean. Epoxy is the way to go for sure if you want to take it to that next level - it really finishes it off. I built a shelf 2 feet from the ceiling 1/2 way around one side. My wife and 2 young kids have problems getting bikes from the hooks, so I have them in Feedback Sports RAKK stands bolted to a piece of plywood. I could probably get 8-10 bikes hanging if I staggered them a bit. I drive an old car, so it lives outside 90% of the time but I can readjust if needed and pull the car in before bad weather.

Here is what I did. This is my second total garage build out, I learned a lot from our *tight* 2 car garage in the first house.

Get as much as you can off the floor. I epoxied the floor, spray textured the walls thick splatter/orange peel ($30 texture gun found on Craigslist) and put 2 thick coats of stain blocker Kilz on the walls and ceiling. I can spray the garage out with water which is nice, you can eat off the floor when it is clean. Epoxy is the way to go for sure if you want to take it to that next level - it really finishes it off. I built a shelf 2 feet from the ceiling 1/2 way around one side. My wife and 2 young kids have problems getting bikes from the hooks, so I have them in Feedback Sports RAKK stands bolted to a piece of plywood. I could probably get 8-10 bikes hanging if I staggered them a bit. I drive an old car, so it lives outside 90% of the time but I can readjust if needed and pull the car in before bad weather.

I'm actually starting to regret my decision to epoxy my garage floor. The paint seems to be holding up, but I needed 3 gallons to do the floor. Kits sold as 2 gallon and 1 gallon kits...says the color was grey, but the color didn't match! Also, according to the guys over at garage journal, ceramic tile is the only way to go. I don't think I'm going to texture my walls, just paint them. Kilz might work very well as a base coat and penetrate the sheetrock, thanks!

Using uni-strut is a very good idea. I just got done making inexpensive cantilevered shelves with 3/4 inch plywood ripped into three 16-inch wide, 8 foot long shelves, with a 1x2 inch furring strip wood glued and screwed along the front edge of the shelf to give more rigidity along the edge and provide a lip to keep stuff from rolling or falling off. I hung these shelves on angle shelf brackets mounted to every wall stud each 16 inches. They are extremely strong, durable, can be hung at any height including above most garage doors, and very easy and inexpensive to make.

I am so loving the look of this garage. Makes me want to do a wood ceiling in my garage.

Kudo's to you

Thanks!

The whole top floor is like that. That's one of the things that sold us on the house.

Downside is, there is almost no insulation up there. Asphalt shingles on tar paper on probably 3/4" plywood. Maybe a layer of bituthene in there. That's about it. It's gonna be toasty this summer in the house, and no AC.

We're seriously considering a solar system.

One, there are deals out there where you pay like $3500 for installation, and you lease the panels back for 20 years or so for cheap (and transferable to new owners)... a lot less money than is shaved off the electric bill, so it is a net win. This house does not have gas service, so everything... stove, oven, heat, hot water, clothes dryer... is all on electricity, so we're going to get a monster electric bill. I need to offset that. It doesn't help that there is no central heat, either. That's another upgrade we're considering, if we can get gas service. We have neighbors who have gas, so it can be done... probably not for a reasonable amount of money, tho. Trenches are crazy expen$ive.

Two, putting solar panels on the roof will put the roof in shade, so it won't get so hot in summer. We're told that the roof will also need to be replaced in the next 5-10 years, so that will probably have to happen at the same time.

Well after searching for a wall mount I decided to make my own out of some old roadie drop bars. The only thing I have to do is have them powder coated. Parts list: 2" x 6" x 3/16 ss plate. SS 3/4 socket weld coupling, 12" x 3/4" SS pipe and old school steel droppper bars with the facatory stems. I had to bore out the 3/4" pipe for the stems to slide in some what easily. Then I used the swedge on the stem to lock it into place. Works great and cost was next to nothing to make. Powder coat will be blue, then the bars will be wrapped in some padding.

Well after searching for a wall mount I decided to make my own out of some old roadie drop bars. The only thing I have to do is have them powder coated. Parts list: 2" x 6" x 3/16 ss plate. SS 3/4 socket weld coupling, 12" x 3/4" SS pipe and old school steel droppper bars with the facatory stems. I had to bore out the 3/4" pipe for the stems to slide in some what easily. Then I used the swedge on the stem to lock it into place. Works great and cost was next to nothing to make. Powder coat will be blue, then the bars will be wrapped in some padding.